To charge this much for childminding

[Anothertiredmom]

posting on behalf of friend who’s not on mumsnet

friend has recently qualified as a childminder. They’ve been working out their fees with the agency who qualified them.

The feedback from a lot of enquiries has been that it’s too expensive and she’s now lost 3 potential customers due to this.

so she wants to know a general opinion on costs please

If you use one, how much do you pay for your childminder? Per hour/per day/wrap around care

she’s been advised to charge around £6 an hour, £52-56 per day(7.30-5.30), and £35 for wrap around care. Snacks are included in wrap around, extra food cost is added for hourly and day rates or they can provide their own.

do you think this is unreasonably high?

I understand it changes based on location, this is for outside of London, midlands town.

She needs to establish the average hourly rate for childminders in her area and then go slightly below the average. She's a new childminder and her charge needs to reflect that.

Established, good childminders generally charge more and have a steady flow of recommendations for their services.

£35 for before and after school is very high. Why the mark up? After school children often need less childminder supervision than the preschool age. They're usually happy to eat and entertain themselves with crafts, games etc.

Is she being flexible with hours? The key selling point for most childminders is the greater flexibility they have over nurseries. Some may need a half day, just after school, just before school. She needs to accommodate this to attract customers and build a good reputation.

Do the agency take fees from her? I assume they do. I always found registering direct with Ofsted better. I never did see quite what an agency offered that couldn't be done without them.

Was just going to say this. The sensible way to find out if she is charging reasonably is to make a list of the services she offers, the canvas local businesses and research how much they charge for that exact service. If she is charging way over the average then it’s obvious too much.

Nursery for my eldest was £75 per day! So we are much better off with cm.

I think it will vary by area but that sounds expensive to me (especially the wrap around!). The market will tell her if she's overpriced - she won't get any customers, which seems to be what's happening. It takes time to build a customer base, I think word of mouth is really good advertising for childminders but if your friend is new to this she won't have built up a reputation yet.

Sorry typo in my post - we pay £45 a day.

It increased from £42 around October time last year.

The cost of childminders will vary greatly depending on location. I am a childminder in southeast london and the daily rate here is about £60per day.
I don’t know many childminders who do school wrap around because the school provisions here are so cheap. I charge £10 for morning drop off(7.30am-9am) and £18 for after school (3pm-6pm). £35 does sound expensive.

Generally costs will be dictated by what the going rate is locally and wether people can afford to pay or not.

is your friend registered with the agency or directly with Ofsted?

After school club here in se england is 20 including hot fresh cooked dinner til 6.

My friend who uses childminder in london pays 20 per child from 315 to 6pm. Including dinner.

35 is not going to work for parents ..if someone had 2 kids that is 70 quid a day just for after school club.

I pay £5 an hour in term time for CM after school, snacks included. I pay £4 an hour in school holidays, lunch and snacks included. I'm in central Scotland.

The wraparound sounds really expensive, I’m in the West Midlands and use school’s wraparound and pay £5 for breakfast club (from 7.30), £13.50 for after school to 6pm with snacks, or £10 until 5pm.

I used to be a childminder and priced at £5.50 per hour/ £6 past 7pm location wales social worker background though and plenty of training and certificates but sometimes played with this to suit circumstances my main income for years were two children from babies to 8 years old from the same family 5 days a week, who i charged £9 an hour for minded the two. Didnt do wraparound package with this family or anything after a year of having them and discussing with parents their needs I set it at £9 an hour no matter when or for how long I had them give them a good price for two children and for me yes I minded other children during these years but I counted them as my main regular income and guaranteed income for years and to this day I have a wonderful relationship with the family and the two children still visit me, for me it was about finding what works well for me but also the parents who’s needs suited me and my families needs best.

We pay £37 per day which includes lunch, snacks & all outings. After reading this thread I realise how lucky we are! We're based in the NW.

The very small agency starting with T quote that in my area fees of £9 are achievable...from where they take their fees but childminders working in the area are only charging £5 it's wrong but gets them their initial £300 or so yearly fee plus commission for any work the cm does get. Ofsted are £35 a year and insurance around £70 so why would anyone use an agency.

the wrap around care is what people are mostly saying is too expensive. The £35 includes drop off from 7.30, breakfast, walked to school, picked up from school at 3pm, home for a snack, help with any homework, a craft or activity, and pick up by 5.30. She wanted to charge £10 for just before school and £15 for after school, or £20 combined but was told this would be underselling herself.

That is VERY expensive for the region. We are in an affluent town in the West Midlands and we pay £20 for wraparound (including everything you describe but the children are driven to school in a minibus, so also including fuel and vehicle costs). The full day cost for pre-school children or INSET / school holidays is £42. This includes all snacks and drinks, and outings in the holidays, but not nappies or wipes for children who need them.

I haven't read the whole thread but did read your answers.
Which agency had she joined? There a some that take a % of the monthly earnings so they might be telling her to charge more to cover that?
I'm a childminder in South Bucks. At the moment I charge £65 from 8am-6pm all inclusive, both before and after school until 6pm including a hot home cooked meal is £30 and just after school is £25.
It really does depend on the area she is in as charges around the uk differ greatly .

These look like London rates. Seems on the high end for the midlands

No idea about childminder fees as we chose not to use one as wanted a nursery with more staff and better facilities, but we paid £45 a day 9-5 and this included all drinks/snacks/cooked lunch but not nappies/wipes/suncream/etc.

Wraparound care here is is £15.50 (£6 for breakfast club and £9.50 per afterschool club). This includes breakfast and a light snack and walking to/from school. They also can drive to another school that isn't walking distance, but I think that's an extra fee. So yikes, £35 seems very expensive to me.

We are in the Midlands.

The local nursery is £51 per day (8am to 6pm) including three meals and two snacks.

Primary school breakfast club is £3.50 (7:45 to 8:45) including breakfast. After school is £7.50 (3:10 to 5:45) including a snack / light meal. Most of the local primary schools seem to charge about the same or even a bit less. Obviously you have to drop your child off and pick them up, but no-one lives that far from the school.

Her prices, particularly for wrap-around, seem high. If she wants to charge anywhere near those prices, she needs to consider what she is offering that parents couldn't get elsewhere and more cheaply. Around here, the thing that people will pay more for is extended opening hours, so staying open until 7pm.

Also in EAST anglia and pay the same. And East Anglia is expensive for childcare!

Just looked again and should add - our pick up is by 6pm, so an extra half an hour of care for our £20 compared to your friend. Drop-off is 7.30.

If they have their own children they don't make loads but if your full that's £12 to £15 an hour before costs during the day and around £60 for wrap around care per day the school holidays boost it so 14 weeks additional money.

She needs to find out what others in her area are charging and pitch her prices around them.

£4.75 an hour. He takes a packed lunch. South west.

£8 per hour (Surrey) includes two hot meals and snacks. We provide nappies. Wish it was cheaper but my childminder is amazing.

Aren't most nurseries more than that per day though? Am I missing something?

Hourly and daily are about what I'd expect (though I do live in London), wraparound seems very high. My childminder charges per hour for wrap-around for the hours actually used (though previous one charged everyone until 6 regardless of when picked up, which I can also understand as won't get anyone else between 5 and 6).